Court Approves Settlement in Disability Discrimination Class Action
October 13, 2010The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently granted final approval of a settlement agreement between a class of persons with disabilities in San Francisco, who have sought access to the City’s emergency shelter system for homeless persons, and the City and County of San Francisco.
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit alleging that San Francisco engaged in discrimination against homeless persons with mental and physical disabilities, by denying reasonable accommodations and meaningful access to single adult emergency shelters.
Under the settlement, the City agreed to maintain the number of shelter beds and drop-in spaces available for a year, facilitate transportation to shelters for homeless people with disabilities, train shelter staff as to the needs of those persons, and make additional changes to its shelter system.
Zelle Hofmann is co-counsel for the plaintiff class, with Disability Rights Advocates, of Berkeley. Zelle Hofmann represented the plaintiffs on a pro bono basis. Partner Daniel Mason and associate José Umbert worked on the case.
